Services and jobs saved with £6m grant for police

Home Office officials have agreed to the unprecedented move following talks with senior officers and police authority leaders.

The deal will provide another £2m a year for the next three years, plus £300,000 capital funding for new voice-recognition equipment.

This is on top of the £91.1m annual grant confirmed last month.

Despite a crackdown on spending, chief constable Sean Price admitted before Christmas that he could not rule out job cuts; thanks to the £6.3m lifeline, redundancies will be avoided.

Coun Dave McLuckie, deputy chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, said: "We will not have to make anyone in the force take compulsory redundancy, and that's great news for the people who have worked so hard for Cleveland police."

The offer was made after high-level talks with Home Office Minister Hazel Blears.

Mr Price said: "The Home Office accepted that the problems we faced had built up over a number of years and had to be dealt with.

"They appreciated the great strides we have already made in our service to the public, such as vastly improved call handling and reducing crime, which has fallen for seven consecutive months.

"It's a huge vote of confidence in Cleveland police that this extraordinary deal has been made."

A year ago, Cleveland police had to tighten its belt following the discovery of a £7.3m deficit in spending plans.

Since then, the force says it has made more than £10m-worth of savings, without damaging performance figures.

Mr Price said: "We will continue to review all areas in order to make efficiency savings, but this money gives us breathing space.

"It means that we can phase in savings, rather than have to slash resources overnight."

Coun McLuckie added: "We can now finalise our spending plans for the coming year, and I believe we will be able to deliver a budget which will protect front-line services and will not require an excessive additional contribution from local council taxpayers."